Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum
The Captain Morgan rum range is a very popular brand produced by the Diageo Conglomerate. The brand was named after the Welsh Privateer Sir Henry Morgan. The company has been producing run since 1944 and since then, the company has improved rapidly. The Levy family, who purchased raw rum and then modified the taste by adding spices and herbs, developed the original recipe. This improved the taste of the rum and substantially increased its popularity as well.
Origin and Development of Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum
In the year 2011, the brand was rebranded as Captain Morgan’s Spiced and a huge media campaign was carried out to popularize the rum. In 2012, the company launched a new range of rum called BLACK. The name was inspired by the story surrounding the death and burial of the Captain. According to the legend, the captain was buried on the shores of Port Royal Harbor. When a typhoon hit the city, the coffin was dislodged. Natives saw it being pushed out to sea. The casket was not recovered and some people believe that the captain got to enjoy the sea even after his death.
Appearance of bottle
On the whole, this Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum is supposed to be in direct competition to Kraken Black Spiced Rum. The bottle design of two rings on the neck and the label are both similar to the Kraken label. The front of the label shows the Captain on his ship with his foot on a rum barrel. As the bottle empties though, the other side of the label shows the Captain’s casket and skeleton. The rum is also almost the same concentration of about 47.3 % abv.
Appearance in glass
The rum has a wonderfully dark inviting look with scents of vanilla that are very strong. This strong vanilla smell is accompanied with a smell of caramel, cinnamon, cloves, cherry cola and hints of hibiscus. We caught a distinct taste of chocolate, anise and cassia bark as well. There is no distinct smell of oak due to the aging but the rum is very young and this could be the reason that the rum is a little astringent in taste and flavor.
Taste profile
The rum has a wonderful light spicy flavor that is followed through with a candied taste. The most prominent taste includes black cherry, vanilla, cloves, cinnamon and licorice. We found the licorice taste to be the strongest and it did seem to increase with time. The taste is far smoother than other rum varieties. The Captain Morgan Black Spiced is a little stronger than other varieties in the market and this could be due to the 47.3% abv concentration.
Mixes
The Captain Morgan Black Spiced is obviously made to be mixed and patrons can try making the Captain Morgan Flagship cocktail called the Captain and Cola. The resulting taste is very, very good and extremely good on the palate. The cinnamon and clove taste comes to the forefront but vanilla remains steady in the cocktail at all times though. This rum is obviously made for mixing and the bouquet seems to open up with water mixed into the glass.
Going down
The rum is particularly smooth due to the 20% extra alcohol. However, it does grate on the tonsils if you drink it neat or on ice. The taste sobers down if you mix it with cola and ice.
The bottom line
We particularly wrote this review to compare this Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum with the Kraken Black Spiced Rum and in fact, we have tried to be as impartial as possible. Both rums are similar but they have distinct tastes that make them unique. We like the Captain Morgan Black Spiced Rum as it has a unique balance of flavor and taste. We give it a score of 79.5 for its taste and balance and we do recommend it if you are interested in buying it for sipping or as a mixer.